Lost
by darkens4841
Summary: They say 13 is an unlucky number. They have no idea. Horror, probably not for the weak of heart. Rated M to be safe.


There comes a time in everyone's life where they discover something that they wish they shouldn't have. Something that haunts them down to their very core, keeps them awake at night wondering, hoping, _praying_ that somehow they just forget.

But they _can't_.

I would know. I've looked back on that day so many times I feel I have wasted an entire lifetime thinking about it. I've played out every scenario in my head over and over and over. It never changes though. I should've just said no. I should've walked out of the room. I should've done _something_ to keep me away. Something that would keep my remaining years as calm as my first thirteen. As fate would have it, I didn't stand a fucking chance. And now I can't even gain peace in death.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning, though the events are so blurred in the storm of my mind, I can't even say for sure what the true beginning was. I will try.

I suppose the first link of the chain of events will suffice, when I was called to the tower. It was supposed to be a routine intelligence gathering mission. Infiltrate, do my job, and leave. I knew I complete the mission on my own, but decided to accept help anyway. First mistake. I should have known to trust my own instinct, my intelligence, but something blurred my judgment for a second too long.

I was given a choice on my partner. Of course, this should have been simple as well. I knew there were a few people that would make top candidates for intelligence gathering, the Hyuugas or Ino for example. Instead, I didn't think of all the possible variations and decided on Naruto. Second mistake. I let my opinion of him distort my planning. I knew he would be absolutely useless.

The details of the mission are not entirely necessary, but I will reiterate anyway. Since the failed attack on the village last year, the Sound Village has been trying to gain more allies as they prepare for another attack. In order to be able to determine who has been recruited so far, various missions are being carried out to the other villages to try to gather some information on either their relation with Konoha or on the status of the Sound. With the Uchiha traitor on their side, the Hokage is especially worried, and is sending lower ranked shinobi while trying to maintain defense of the village. Our mission is to go investigate Cloud, and if possible perform some recon of the Sound on the way.

Uzumaki is still obsessed with the Uchiha, however, and is insisting that we stop at Sound anyway. I tell him that it is unlikely that Orochimaru is keeping his most prized possession at the village, and that going to Cloud is our primary objective. He argues and I try to ignore him. Third mistake.

As we travel through the trees I start to feel tired. I look over at Uzumaki and can tell he is feeling a bit different as well. We jump down to the ground and take a look around. The air is unusually thick, sticking to our lungs making it difficult to breath. It is June; it should not be this humid out, even in the dense foliage. I pull out the map and track our path. It appears we are no longer in Konoha territory, but still in the Fire Country.

Naruto starts to fidget, and it quickly becomes a distraction. I try to tell him to quit it when he turns around and begins to slowly walk toward me. He pulls out a kunai and I stand up, ready to catch him in my jutsu if the time comes. Fourth mistake.

I find myself momentarily caught in a genjutsu myself and quickly make the move to release it. When I awake, the orange clad ninja's body is up against mine, his kunai resting against my throat. I stop breathing, but my brain goes to overdrive. Before I get a chance to decide on a plan of action, my limbs go ridged, and I fall to the ground. I manage to avert my gaze upwards just in time to see Naruto put his kunai through his own chest before everything goes black.

Touch. The cold steal against my neck and back. The stiff leather tight around my wrists and ankles.

Taste. Copper; I must've bit my tongue when I collapsed.

Smell. Bleach and blood, the most sickening combination that haunts the hallways of places of healing.

Hear. A constant hum horrifyingly in tune with a steady drip.

Sight. Bright white above me. Bright orange clashing with blond and red next to me.

Realization. Capture, the most fateful outcome of any mission. Death cannot compare to the possibilities.

I try to study my surroundings and plan an escape. Naruto is breathing, the machine says his heart is beating. Taking a closer look, I see that his eyes are open and working as well. I try to open my mouth to speak, but find it does not work. My feet and hands are equally immobilized, and the measly 45 degrees that my neck can turn doesn't seem to get his attention either. I am forced to lay there and watch him. It doesn't look like he is even trying to fight. He is still. Calm like the forest on a night with a full moon, the critters to fearful to move for fear of the monsters that ravish the night. The light of the moon betraying them.

I swallow and find that it is difficult as well. All of the information is pointing to the workings of Orochimaru and his minions, namely Kabuto. This lab, this place of torture and hell, this is where I will spend the last of my days. I can already tell.

I try to think, _the wheels are not turning_.

I try to relax, _the lights above burning._

Focus on the task at hand, _no need to foretell_.

And come up with a plan, _but we are in HELL_.

The heavy steel door creaks open and I jerk my head in that direction, forcing my fate from my mind. Two men enter the room wearing lab coats and Sound head bands. I do my best to keep myself calm, but they appear to completely ignore me. I watch as they walk past my bed and start to examine Naruto and all the various machines next to him. I manage to catch a few things that they say, "He's stable," and "Give it a few more hours."

When they turn their attention to me my heart starts racing. Normally I am calmer than this, but being so trapped is freaking me out. The two look at each other and one of them leaves the room at a brisk pace and I hear his footsteps echo off the walls for a few moments longer. I continue to stare at the remaining "doctor" and he just stares back a concoction of emotions lingering in his eyes. Hate, wonder, hope, fear, and _excitement._

I shiver under his gaze. The other man returns and nods his head before turning to a table of instruments. The first doctor smiles a smile of the purist of sadism. I try to gulp again and find that it is quite impossible. The first doctor walks up to my bedside and begins to fumble with another machine, like the one next to Naruto.

I twitch as I feel something cold being applied to my bare chest. I try to move my head to see what it is, but fail. Out of the corner of my eye I see the wires connected to the machine begin to shake and realize that the doctor was gluing the wires to me. I watch as a few more get attached to my forehead and see the doctor smirk as I begin to sweat.

The second doctor hones in on me with a syringe in his hand. He looks at the first doctor, appearing to ask for permission, and gets a nod. I feel the slight pinch of the needle's intrusion to my body, followed by a sting as the fluid is injected. Within seconds my body is burning, feeling like every single cell is slowly exploding. It doesn't last long however before everything stills. I feel like I'm asleep, floating. My awareness is fading. The last thing I see is the second doctor making a hand sign.

When I awake, it appears I am back in my village. Everything is back to normal. Ino and Chouji run up to me asking if I want to go get some barbeque. Azuma is behind them with a smile on his face. I go, even though I am not hungry. Then I realize it.

I don't feel anything.

I can see the trees swaying, but I don't feel the wind on my skin. I can't smell the food as it is placed before us. I put a piece in my mouth. It has no flavor. Panicking, I excuse myself and head to the Hokage tower. At the bottom of the stairs, I see Naruto looking at the ground ahead of him with a blank look on his face. I run up to him, ask him excitedly how we got back to the village.

It is then he looks up at me and I see the horror in his eyes. He says the five words that will haunt me as long as I live, "We're not in the village".

Every so often I hear the horrid voices of the doctors saying I'm still stable. I hear their plans of using this technique against Konoha.

I hear their shouts of victory when Orochimaru takes over Sasuke's body. I hear their talk about when they plan to attack Konoha, when they decide to unleash the fury of the genjutsu I am in that now has a name. Eternal Paralysis. I have tried to break it, but my soul, or whatever I am now, is completely disconnected from my body. Apparently my body is practically a lump of skin and bones that is "still stable".

They say thirteen is an unlucky number. They have no idea.

* * *

**Yeah, not my usual style, but I did write horror before I discovered porn. Though I usually stuck to zombies...Anyhoo, R&R. Don't worry, I will still continue my pornographic ventures, but if I get enough feedback for this, who knows, I might do a few more. I had fun. **


End file.
